ND asks for student union head’s resignation over exam cheats

New Democracy on Tuesday asked for the resignation of the head of its affiliated student union (DAP) at the University of Patra, in western Greece, after he criticized university authorities for punishing more than 100 students for cheating.

“New Democracy demands that everyone respects the rules without exception,” the conservative opposition said in a statement.

In June, 106 business administration students at the University of Patra were found to have submitted an identical assignment paper for the course “Dynamic Mathematical Models.”

After authorities decided to exclude the cheaters, who apparently used the same essay-writing service, from exams in September, the local branch of DAP condemned the measure as “an extreme move that will have tragic consequences on the smooth continuation of these students’ studies.”

“Every major event in the modern era is a cheap imitation of the historical past,” the union said in a statement, in a reference to communism’s founding father Karl Marx.